jlh | Restaurant Wars!

Unlike the other things I watch, Top Chef kept right on going through the holidays, so I thought hey, it's Restaurant Wars this week, time to catch up.

New York's Finest: In which Angelo's team is fastest thanks to Fabio but cooks a sucky dish for the quickfire, Tre outcooks Richard and Dale Talde outcooks Marcel by not trying to outcook Wylie, Antonia shows that simple is best, Dale Levitski goes off the deep end, and Stephen realizes that he hasn't actually cooked in a while. The challenge was pretty great, and I love how smart many of them were, particularly Carla, Dale Talde and Antonia. Sad to see Dale Levitski go because his commentary is always a delight.

Advantage: Chef: In which Jamie fails to cook for a second time, Carla continues to be underestimated, Mike displays his leadership skills, and Spike fucks up but blames it on Angelo and Jamie. The stuffing quickfire was a little silly, though it's always awesome to see Tre win. Antonia was also putting forth some serious skills. Oh, and Marcel started to resent Dale Talde for no clear reason.

Dim Sum Lose Sum: In which Casey fails to cook chicken feet, Jamie fucks up beans again, no one plates fast enough, Tom cooks a quickfire pacesetter, and Dale beats out Angelo but Marcel still hates him. Wow, that was a giant mess, wasn't it? Why Mike couldn't get the chefs to plate faster is unclear, though it was probably that they didn't care because they wanted everything just so.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat: In which Jamie still has a bad attitude, Marcel still hates Dale but Dale has taken anger management, Carla is once again the stealthy kind of awesome, Fabio falls in love with Richard, and Tiffani forgets about the bloodline. I love Tre's, "I think Marcel's kind of an asshole." I love generally that Marcel's ridiculousness is coming out more this season, probably because there's so much less noise, as the other chefs are uninterested in engaging him.

Restaurant Wars—One Night Only: In which Dale wins one of the best Quickfires ever by channeling his childhood; Tre and Dale have their revenge on Restaurant Wars; Antonia is still the Black Hammer; Angelo continues to be elusive and when he senses a disaster he keeps his head down; Carla is picked last for no good reason; Fabio is not just charming but specifically praised by Colicchio for his management of the front of the house staff; Blais reminds us why, once again, it's his to lose; and Marcel reminds us why everyone is always hating on him and shows that unlike Tiffani, he has learned nothing.

As usual Colicchio says it best re Marcel: "His lack of self-awareness was his downfall." Or you can see Marcel continue to show that lack in his blog for ew.com. Thank god he's gone, seriously.

The field is really tight now, isn't it? Fabio and Tiffany might be relatively low-hanging fruit, but one misstep and anyone could go home. Richard, Carla, Dale and Angelo have two wins each, and the others haven't won yet at all, but Isabella also feels strong. I'd love to see a Blais/Talde/Carla final three, though a Blais/Angelo/Carla final three would be a great "should have won their season" finale.